The morris i-eters co



No. 624,692. Patented May 9, I899.

' J. SHARPE.

TURBINE WATER WHEEL.

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WITNESSES:

NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SI-IARPE, OF GRAVENHURST, CANADA.

TURBINE WATER-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,692, dated May 9, 1899.

Application filed August 6, 1898.

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,JOHN SHARPE,of Gravenhurst, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Turbine Water-WVheel, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact d escription.

The object of my invention is to provide a turbine water-wheel which will be of exceedingly simple, durable, and economicconstruction and through the medium of which power may be obtained with a less amount of friction than in the ordinary construction of such machines.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of I the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

, tious thereof being in vertical section.

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section taken substantially on the line 1 1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine, the bridge located over the gearing being broken away. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the machine, por- Fig. at is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line-4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the feed-pipes; and Fig. 6 is a vertical section throughone of the feed-pipes, illustrating the manner in which the cut-offs operate therein.

A represents a tank adapted to receive water, which tank is supported by pillars 10 upon a foundation B, in which foundation a well or tail-race G is formed, having-a suitable outlet O'.

The tank Ais provided with a central opening 11, extending through it from top to bottom, the opening being surrounded bya suitable wall, and the tank is supplied with water from two flumes 12 and 13. Each flume is connected with a box-casing 14, and the said box-casings are connected with and extend above the tank, and waterways are provided in the lower portions of the box-casings,

, whereby the water may pass from the fiumes into the tank. A gate 15 is mounted to slide in each box-casin g, the casings extending sufficiently above the tank to accommodate the gates when elevated. Each gate 15 is prefer- Serial No. 687,950. (No model-l along the inner faces of the flumes from one to the other. A truss or lift-bar 18 is located above the bar 17. provided with openings which loosely receive the upper ends of the stems 16 of the gates, the stems being provided with flanges 19 at their upper edges. The gates are raised and lowered through the medium of a shaft 20, which is provided with a double thread and is held to turn in a threaded eye in the truss or lift-bar 1S and in a lug 21, extending from The truss or lift-bar is.

Two stems are the tank A between the flumes, as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft isoperated through the medium of a hand-wheel 22, which is securely fastened to the shaft, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Between the tank A and the foundation B a casing D, preferably circular, is made to rest upon the foundation over the tail-race C. This casing is made, preferably, in two sections, an upper section 23 and a lower section 24, the lower section being open at top and bottom and the upper section being closed'at the top and open at the bottom, as shown in Fig.3. A series of feed-tubes 25 is connected with the bottom of the tank A, having communication with the interior of the tank, the feed-tubes being circularly arranged, and the said feed-tubes at their lower ends are in communication with theinterior of the upper sectionof the casing D, and within the upper section of the casing D, between the bot- 'tom portions of the various feed-tubes, guide or deflecting blocks or plates 26 are located, the said guides or conductors 26 having their lower ends pointed and curved all in the same direction, the pointed portions of the guides IOO tions of the feed-pipes, the abutting edges of the cut-ofis being beveled, as shown at 27 When the cut-offs are opened, they stand vertically or longitudinally of the feed-pipes, as

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. Each cutofl is attached at or near its center to a spindle 2 8, and these spindles are journaled in oppositesides of the feed-tubes, one spindle of each tube at its outer end being provided with a segmental gear 29 and the other with a corresponding and meshing gear 30, as shown in Fig. 5, the gear 30 having a handle 31. Th rough the medium of these segmental gears the cut-offs are opened and closed as desired.

A Wheel E is mounted to turn in the lower section 24 of the casing D, and the said wheel is provided-with peripheral buckets e, and theseries of peripheral buckets are substantially Vertical at their upper ends, being inclined more or less from the vertical at a point slightly below their opposite ends to the lower edge of the wheel, the inclination of all of the buckets being in the same direction. The guides 26 are adapted. to direct the water passed through the feed-tubes into the buckets e, and therefore act in the capacity of conductors.

The wheel E is secured upon a vertical shaft 32, mounted to turn in asuitable bearing 33, erected on afoundation 3st in the center of the tail-race O. The shaft 32 extends upward through the opening 11 in the tank and through a spider 35, which tends to strengthen the tank at its open portion. The upper end of the shaft is made to turn in a bridge-piece 36, attached to bearin gs 37, erected at opposite sides of the openingin the tank, and in each of the said bearings the inner end of a drive-shaft is journaled, the shafts being designated, respectively, as 38 and 39. The shafts are likewise journaled in suitable boxes located near the outer edges of the tank. Each shaft is provided with a pulley 40 at its outer end.

The wheel-shaft 32 is provided with a beveled gear 42 near its upper end, and the said beveled gear meshes with pinions ll, one of which is attached to the inner end of each shaft'38 and 39. After the cut-offs in the feed-pipes have been set they may be so locked through the medium of a latch 32. (Shown in Fig. 5.)

The object of making the gates and their stems hollow is to admit of their being readily raised and to reduce the weight of metal,

and, furthermore, the stems are made hollow in order to afford access of air to the gates and allow the expansion and contraction of the air according to the changes in the temperature.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a turbine water-wheel, the combina tion, with a tank, a wheel supplied with water from the said tank, means for regulating the'supply of water from the tank to the said wheel, and a shaft driven by the said wheel, of fiumes, hollow gates located between the flumes and the tank, hollow stems connected with the said gates, guides for the stems, and means substantially as described, for simultaneously raising and lowering the gates, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a turbine water-wheel, the combination, with a tank having a walled opening at its center, fiumes connected with the said tank, gates located between the fiumes and the tank, an adjusting device, and a connection between the adjusting device and the said gates, of a casing located below the tank,

a Wheel mounted to rotate in the said casing,

provided with radial buckets, the upper ends whereof are straight and the lower and cen tral portions downwardly inclined, feed-tubes connected with the tank and extending within the said casing, cut-offs located within the said feed-tubes, and means for operating the cut-offs from the exterior of the tubes, and conductors located between the feed-tubes, extending within the said casing, the said conductors being curved at their lower edges and located over the buckets of the wheel, substantially as described.

3. In a hydraulic motor, the combination of a Water-tube, two out-oifs mounted in said tube to command the same, a gear in connection with each cut-01f, the gears meshing with each other to synchronize the movements of the cut-offs, and a latch mounted adjacent to the gears and capable of moving between the same to lock the gears from movement.

4. In a hydraulic motor, the combination of a tank, two flumes leading to the tank, a casing carried by each flume, the casings respectively communicating wit-h the fiumes, a gate commanding each flume, the gates being respectively movable into the casing to open the flumes, a stem in connection with each gate, a guide-bar extending between the casings and having the stem passed through them, a lift-bar in connection with the stems of the gates, and means for raising and lowering the lift-bar to operate the gates.

JOHN SHARPE.

Witnesses:

HENRY CASTLE, D. MoEAoHREN. 

